The environmental watchdog of Haining, East China's Zhejiang province, said they will take actions to prevent further pollution from a solar panel producer, following angry protests by villagers.

Some of protesters stormed the factory, overturning several company cars and destroying offices in Haining, China's Zhejiang on Sept. 14, 2011, local government said.?[sohu.com]

More than 500 villagers from the nearby Hongxiao village have held three days of protests since Thursday night at the Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co Ltd (ZJS) factory over pollution fears.

Residents said they became concerned after the deaths of a large number of river fish, according to the Haining people's government.

Protesters overturned eight company vehicles and destroyed the company's offices before police arrived.

Four police vehicles were reportedly damaged in demonstrations on Friday, and dozens of police officers were seen being brought in to keep control of the situation.

The protest has forced the plant to shut down and deal with pollution it has caused in its vicinity.

Chen Hongming, a deputy head of Haining's environmental protection bureau, said that the factory's waste disposal had failed pollution tests since April.

The bureau had warned the factory before the protest, but the factory did not take effective measures to control the pollution, Chen said.

The company is a subsidiary of a New York Exchange-listed Chinese solar company, JinkoSolar Holding Company. Both firms have made no comment about the protests or pollution allegations.

Before the protest, a 33-year-old resident of Hongxiao village identified only as Sun posted a comment on the Internet saying that the latest health examination of the villagers showed that among 3,300 people, six were diagnosed as having leukemia and another 31 had other kinds of cancer.

Also, three employees of ZJS were detained on Saturday for interfering with interviews by two reporters from the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang television station and damaging their video cameras on Thursday.

Police are still investigating the ZJS employees' actions.

The fish kills were related to contamination of the river near the factory, according to the local environmental protection authorities.

The Haining people's government will step up its investigation into the pollution and water quality monitoring near the factory.

Further, production safety inspection authorities ordered the factory to stop production, according to a press release from the Haining people's government regarding a news conference held on Saturday afternoon.